The Lykovs lived in this hand-built log cabin, lit by a single window "the size of a backpack pocket" and warmed by a smoky wood-fired stove.

Siberian summers do not last long. The snows linger into May, and the cold weather returns again during September, freezing the taiga into a still life awesome in its desolation: endless miles of straggly pine and birch forests scattered with sleeping bears and hungry wolves; steep-sided mountains; white-water rivers that pour in torrents through the valleys; a hundred thousand icy bogs. This forest is the last and greatest of Earth's wildernesses. It stretches from the furthest tip of Russia's arctic regions as far south as Mongolia, and east from the Urals to the Pacific: five million square miles of nothingness, with a population, outside a handful of towns, that amounts to only a few thousand people.

When the warm days do arrive, though, the taiga blooms, and for a few short months it can seem almost welcoming. It is then that man can see most clearly into this hidden world—not on land, for the taiga can swallow whole armies of explorers, but from the air. Siberia is the source of most of Russia's oil and mineral resources, and, over the years, even its most distant parts have been overflown by oil prospectors and surveyors on their way to backwoods camps where the work of extracting wealth is carried on.

Almost two years after a 710-mile (1,100 kilometer) railroad across the world’s highest plateau opened from central China to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, the deadliest clashes in a generation are occurring between Chinese police and young Tibetan protestors. The fierce fighting, which erupted in March, has produced casualties on both sides and prompted demonstrations around the world. Many analysts assert that the fighting is caused, at least in part, by fear that the Chinese government’s long-standing strategy to open Tibet’s vast reserves of copper, iron, lead, zinc, and other minerals will accelerate with the railroad’s development.

But a number of influential scientists and experts in Asian studies now say that control and management of an even more vital resource – the Tibetan Plateau’s vast supply of freshwater – is also emerging at the center of the increasingly tense political and cultural strife between China and Tibet.

Infographic: China’s annual grain harvests from 1997 to 2010 show how production has shifted to and intensified in the northeastern provinces. Click image to launch the interactive Google Fusion Tables map..

Maybe. But the United States would need to consider the consquences...and what happens next.

On December 12, 2012, after 14 years of trials and failures, North Koreafinally put a satellite into orbit around the Earth. The Unha-3 rocket used to deliver this payload—which was ostensibly launched for weather tracking purposes—is functionally equivalent to a ballistic missile, and South Korea was quick to note that its successful launch proves that Pyongyang can now reach targets at a distance exceeding 10,000 km (6,200 miles), putting much of the western coast of the continental United States within striking distance.

Some experts warn that North Korea is only a few years away from mounting a nuclear warhead on a missile. Others doubt its technological capabilities. Indeed, less than a week after the launch of the Unha-3, U.S. astronomers pointed out that the celebrated satellite appeared to be “dead” and “tumbling” through its orbit.

Although the Unha-3 satellite itself may pose no direct threat, it likely part of a long-term strategy to further develop Pyongyang's ballistic missile capabilities. If North Korea launches an improved Unha-3, -4 or -5 rocket later this year, could the U.S. preemptively shoot it out of the skies? Would it?

With one of the world's fastest growing economies, the true test will be how such growth benefits the people. In Mongolia's capital, we may just find out.

Mongolia enters 2013 as one of the world’s fastest growing economies, with forecasters predicting GDP growth of 18-20 percent. Driven by a boom in mining revenues, the impact of this growth is clearly visible in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar, where expensive office high rises, modern apartment buildings, and luxury stores are now common sights. While the capital’s elite and wealthy are enjoying the benefits of this boom, more than half of the city’s 1.2 million still live without access to even basic public services in the “ger” areas that are spread around the city. READ MORE

Barack Obama launched his second term as president of the United States on January 21 with an impassioned speech promising to uphold and advance America's core values.

While he specifically promised the American people that,"a decade of war is now ending", China and Japan have increasingly militarized their standoff in the East China Sea, with Japan stating on the same day its ability to fire on any Chinese air patrols over disputed islands.

An American strategic "readjustment" that will see massive military forces parked off China's coast, and increasing tensions between the world's second and third largest economies, threaten to derail Obama's vision of a peaceful second term.

At the same time, a series of open letters to Obama from the Brookings Institution reveal the challenges that Sino-American relations may hold for Obama's presidency. The suggestions of America's political class expose the archaic and disingenuous nature of American political discourse on the People's Republic of China.The Brookings Institution - one of Washington's oldest and most revered "think tanks", has outlined a series of "Big Bets" that could advance Obama's foreign policy goals. It has also warned of "Black Swans" - unlikely yet possible events that could pose serious international troubles for the American government over the next four years. These different opportunities and potential threats are explained in a series of open letters addressed to the president himself. READ MORE

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 2013 (IPS) - Nearly 20 of the world’s largest creditor countries have announced that they would be cutting nearly half of Myanmar’s total foreign debt, worth some six billion dollars.

Those countries, which include the United States, United Kingdom and several members of the European Union, are part of the Paris Club, a group of 19 of the world’s largest donors. On Monday, the group stated that its members were aware of Myanmar’s “exceptional situation” and had agreed to a 50-percent cancellation of arrears and a seven-year grace period for the remainder.

On the sidelines, Norway and Japan came to separate agreements to cancel additional debts amounting to around four billion dollars. President Thein Sein, who has overseen more than two years of contested political and economic reforms in Myanmar, had reportedly made debt relief a priority for his administration.

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The Paris Club move comes just a day after the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) came to a separate agreement to restructure close to a billion additional dollars that Myanmar owed the institutions. This deal, made possible by a substantial “bridge loan” from Japan, will give the country economic breathing room as it works to emerge from decades of international isolation and almost nonexistent economic and social development.

The involvement of China in the decade-long war on terror in Afghanistan by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been virtually nil. This was so despite the Western alliance's repeated urgings on Beijing to raise its head above the parapet and become an active participant.

The United States doggedly kept at arm's length persistent Russian overtures to become involved in NATO's war - except ruthlessly exploiting them to its selective advantage - but it kept an open mind on a role for China, which, incidentally, used to be its ally supporting the Afghan Mujahideen in the 1980s during the "jihad" against the Soviet army.

Yet, while Moscow responded with alacrity to Washington's need for opening a Northern Distribution Network, Beijing did not even respond to the US's demarche to open the Wakhan Corridor as a transit route for supplying NATO troops in Afghanistan.The big question is whether all that is going to change now that the Western troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is a foregone conclusion. The signs point towards a more hands-on approach on the part of Beijing over the enterprise of stabilizing Afghanistan in the post-2014 period. In some ways, this also forms part of a reassessment of Chinese policies toward Central Asia.

In retrospect, the visit by Zhou Yongkang, China's security chief and member of the Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee, to Kabul last September signified a shift in the Chinese stance from one of extreme wariness and reserve to one of willingness to become engaged. Zhou's visit was, of course, the first by a senior Chinese leader in 46 years and, indeed, Beijing pays much attention to formalism in its political culture. READ MORE

A reserve currency has never lasted forever and the US Dollar is no exception, especially considering its seriously grave trade and debt imbalances. A country can only go so far with its imbalances, and today the US is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world. The fate of the US surely lies on its creditors,who also produce what the US consumes. China, Japan and OPEC countries are the main holders of the US debt. However, the US Fed also stepped in to purchase US debt as a lender of last resort to prevent a further banking crisis. Yet, anyone who uses their “credit card” to finance their debt is doomed to fail, even if this someone is the US government. Who will emerge as the superpower currency after the fall of the US dollar? READ MORE

The deputy governor of China’s central bank signaled he’s comfortable with the yuan’sexchange rate and urged Group of 20 nations to improve collaboration if so-called currency wars are to be avoided.

“Right now, it is pretty much close to the equilibrium level,” Yi Gang said in an interview at theWorld Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. On a global level, there needs to be “better communication and coordination” on foreign exchange among G-20 countries.

Debate has reignited as Japan’s new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, pushes for laxer monetary policy, sparking a slide in the yen. Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has warned against “increasing politicization of the exchange rate” that might undermine the Bank of Japan’s independence.

At the same time, criticism over China’s exchange rate regime has abated in recent months.Lawrence Summers, the former top economic adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama, said Jan. 14 that China’s yuan is no longer as undervalued as it was five years ago. The currency has appreciated about 17 percent against the dollar since the end of 2007.

Yi said that he expects China’s current account deficit to narrow, which would slow the accumulation of foreign reserves.

In response, a forum for mapping out China's economic management strategy convened in June with officials from the State Economic Restructuring Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the World Bank. Spearheaded by then-Vice Premier Zhu Rongji, the Dalian forum attracted well-known economists including the winner of the Nobel in economics Franco Modigliani, British economist Nicholas Stern, and the man behind Taiwan's economic miracle, 83-year-old Kwoh-Ting Li.

Forum participants recommended a number of policy measures. These included raising bank deposit and loan rates, caps on bank lending, and liberalizing price controls. After the forum, Zhu Rongji sat down with Kwoh-Ting Li to discuss some of the veteran economist's ideas. These included proposals that China join the International Monetary Fund, consolidate its central bank, abolish the dual-track currency system and strike a balance between local and central government tax policies. READ MORE

Particularly among Asia scholars, there is broad support in Washington for a pivot to Asia in general, and U.S. China policy in particular. Unfortunately, there are two central flaws in U.S. Asia policy that promise big problems for America down the road.

The first problem is that Washington cannot figure out what it wants from China. Washington supports engaging China economically, and even takes credit for China’s economic growth.According to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “China has prospered as part of the open and rules-based system that the United States helped to build and works to sustain.”

At the same time, Washington is ringing China with an array of bilateral alliances and partnerships, all of which are more or less anti-China. It is not paranoid for Chinese to view this as a policy of military containment. When pressed on the containment question, U.S. policy officials offer absurd responses like that from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in June of last year. According to Panetta, the pivot “is not about containment of China.” Rather, Panetta stated, "it is about the challenge of humanitarian assistance and needs; the challenge of dealing with weapons of mass destruction that are proliferating throughout the world; and dealing with narco-trafficking, and dealing with piracy; and dealing with issues that relate to trade and how do we improve trade and how do we improve lines of communication." READ MORE

South Korea’s economy expanded less than analysts forecast in the fourth quarter as gains in the won, Asia’s best performing currency of the past six months, threaten to restrain exports in 2013.

Gross domestic product grew 1.5 percent from a year earlier, unchanged from the expansion in the third quarter, the Bank of Korea said today. That compares with the median 1.8 percent estimate of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. From a quarter ago, Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew 0.4 percent.

South Korea’s export growth may be capped this year as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s campaign to drive down the yen makes his nation’s products relatively cheaper. In Seoul, Finance Minister Bahk Jae Wan yesterday signaled that Korean officials may do more to ease currency volatility, aiding exporters such as Samsung Electronics Co. that account for nearly half of gross domestic product.

“Japan is trying to boost its economy by weakening the currency for exporters at the expense of its consumers and other countries,” said Lee Sung Kwon, an economist at Shinhan Investment Corp. in Seoul. “South Korea will be hit the hardest among others as it is in direct competition with Japan over many products -- from cars to electronics.” READ MORE

This woman is the most over rated Sec. of State ever.She is waaaaaay out of her league as usual. Her Neo-liberal code speak has done only harm to America and the world in general.She is a soliciting war hawk for the Uber Elite. She should do the whole world a favor by retiring in Arkansass and gently fade away. China Sunday expressed strong dissatisfaction and opposed US comments regarding the disputes between Beijing and Tokyo over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a veiled warning to Beijing not to challenge Tokyo's control of the disputed islets.

Observers said the latest US comment was "one of the most aggressive" positions on the disputes, and was dangerous enough to embolden Japanese right-wing politicians to make more radical moves on the disputes.

Qin Gang, China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Sunday called Clinton's comments "ignorant of the facts" and "indiscriminate in terms of right and wrong," and said the US bears undeniable historical responsibility for the issue of the Diaoyu Islands, referring to the fact that despite opposition from China, the US put the islands under Japanese control after World War II.

"We urge the US side to adopt a responsible attitude in regard to the issue of the Diaoyu Islands. It should be careful with its words and acts, and maintain regional peace, stability and the general situation of China-US relations with practical actions and build credit with the Chinese people," Qin said.

Qin's comment was made in response to a speech by Clinton on Friday during a joint news conference at the State Department after holding a meeting with the new Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.

"Although the US does not take a position on the ultimate sovereignty of the islands, we acknowledge they are under the administration of Japan," Clinton said.

"We oppose any unilateral actions that would seek to undermine Japanese administration, and we urge all parties to take steps to prevent incidents and manage disagreements through peaceful means," said the outgoing secretary of state, who also invited new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to visit Washington next month. READ MORE

Don’t look now, but conditions are deteriorating in the western Pacific. Things are turning ugly, with consequences that could prove deadly and spell catastrophe for the global economy.

In Washington, it is widely assumed that a showdown with Iran over its nuclear ambitions will be the first major crisis to engulf the next secretary of defense -- whether it be former Senator Chuck Hagel, as President Obama desires, or someone else if he fails to win Senate confirmation. With few signs of an imminent breakthrough in talks aimed at peacefully resolving the Iranian nuclear issue, many analysts believe that military action -- if not by Israel, than by the United States -- could be on this year’s agenda.

Lurking just behind the Iranian imbroglio, however, is a potential crisis of far greater magnitude, and potentially far more imminent than most of us imagine. China’s determination to assert control over disputed islands in the potentially energy-rich waters of the East and South China Seas, in the face of stiffening resistance from Japan and the Philippines along with greater regional assertiveness by the United States, spells trouble not just regionally, but potentially globally.

Very few artists have succeeded in striking a balance between revolutionary aesthetics and art. Zhang Ding and Huiwa, the husband and wife couple is among the few exceptions.

Zhang Ding and Huiwa were both revolutionaries from the city of Yanan, the Communist Party headquarters during the Chinese Civil War. However their artistic stories differ significantly.

Zhang, highly-regarded artist throughout his life in Chinese art circles is now most famous for his charcoal paintings of natural scenery that he produced in his later years. Huiwa, on the other hand, did not begin composing poems until well into her life when schizophrenia drove her to write poetry. Her works are limited in number but each poem is exquisite and became a ray of brilliance that stunned Chinese poetry circles at the time.

Love and War

In the early Yanan days, Zhang was the most famous of the "big three" artists of the time. Renowned poet and friend, Ai Qing, once remarked that "whatever Zhang Ding touched became popular." However Zhang always remained humble. After the Communist liberation of Beijing, Zhang visited the Forbidden City. When he witnessed the grand complex, he fell to his knees to pay respect to the ancient artisans, taking a pause in his staunch leftist leanings.

At first, Zhang drew most of his influence from the May 4th Movement writer Lu Xun and insisted on remaining an independent Bolshevik outside of the Communist Party. Later however, he followed the footsteps of the Picasso who joined the French Communist Party and became a member of the Chinese Communist Party. The momentous decision would later ensure his rise in the arts community of the newly-established People's Republic of China.

Zhang provided a cornerstone in the resistance against socialist realism and the Sovietization of art in China. Known for being protective over party and non-party artists, he incorporated Western modern art teaching practices into his own methods.

Many of these actions were viewed as acts of dissent within the party. This along with the fact Zhang belonged to the "Democracy Faction" meant that he was secretly under party surveillance. This illustrates the way in which Zhang maintained independent thought and integrity while acting constructively within the party. This rare balance was best described by art historian Lang Shaojun:

"Zhang pursued two things throughout his life: art and revolution. In 20th century China, these two could rarely accommodate each other, which left artists with a dilemma. In the face of this, Zhang Ding demonstrated unique wisdom and resolve. He achieved a careful balance between mandatory works and voluntary works, between specializing and branching out, between East and Western styles, between modern and ancient, between elegant and restrained."

Deng Xiaoping's Southern Tour in early 1992 was a landmark event that set China's political tone in the run-up to the 14th National Congress. Nevertheless, months would pass before the course laid out in his speeches during the tour would become a framework for official policy and set clear objectives for economic reform.

The wheels started turning when Chen Jinhua, director of the State Commission for Restructuring the Economy, received a phone call from Jiang Zemin on April 1.

"Reform and opening up has reached a crucial turning point, and everyone is anxiously waiting. They want to know what the next step will be," Jiang Zemin said. "I want the commission to research this matter and make a proposal to the central committee.

Chen Jinhua immediately asked the commission's macro-economic control bureau chief, Lou Jiwei, now chairman and CEO of the sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp., to organize a conference. Invited were the heads of several provincial commissions. Discussions were to focus on finding the best way to describe and spell out goals for Chinese economic reform.

The conference convened with the director of the Guangdong Province commission, Yi Zhenqiu, proposing that China build a socialist market system. He argued that efficient resource allocation through the market would not contradict the nature of the Chinese state. His views were supported by most conference attendees including Lou Jiwei.

Later, a commission report with conclusions from the conference was handed directly to Jiang Zemin. It suggested "establishing a socialist market economy" as a possible objective for reform.

At the time, officials were already preparing documents for the 14th party congress, but so far none mentioned "socialist market economy." In late March, while the Politburo was busy discussing the draft documents, Jiang Zemin was stressing the need to better clarify the respective roles of central planning and the market, and give the reform push a clear objective.

Meanwhile, reform-minded economists including Wu Jinglian offered a proposal of their own in a letter to Jiang Zemin. And like the Guangdong leader, they argued for the wording "socialist market economy," calling it a clear way to express the reform movement's scientific objectives.

Indeed, the expression "socialist commercial economy" was becoming increasingly popular. Still, Wu Jinglian said the wording had no basis in traditional Marxist works or modern economics. Rather, he said, it was term borrowed from Soviet economics textbooks that did not clearly describe an economic system's distinct features.